The Union: Black Company Part 1
by Jonas Grant
Summary: While Omni-Tek and the Clans fight for control of Rubi'ka, a group, known only as The Union, is getting ready to enter the conflict. This is the story of Ethan, a Shadow Marshall of The Union's army.
1. Chapter 1

You ever got so drunk that you can't remember your own name?

Me neither, but that must look a lot like the way I feel now; my head's spinning, and I can't see or hear anything.

I try to remember who I am and what happened to me, but trying to access my memories hurts.

Fuck, everything hurts.

I hear someone tell someone else to wake up.

Who am I?

I ignore the pain and try to push deeper in my brain.

Nothing.

Not the slippery kind of nothing, like when you try to remember a dream you just made, no:

A solid wall of emptiness, like my mind was a blank slate or stuff.

Then, I'm falling.

I don't know from where I'm falling, but it's not high as I hit the floor almost instantly.

It's so cold my malfunctioning mind thinks I landed on ice, but I know it's just steel.

"Listen up, troopers! We are the Union, and so are you now! Each of you will train to become a soldier; those too weak will die, only the strong survives, in the Union.

I get up on my feet and look around.

There are kids, most around seven years old and wearing gray jumpsuits, all scared and holding back tears.

Apparently, they were pushed off their beds, like me.

Beds… I look at mine.

It's all green, no sheets, no pillow, heck no mattress.

Over it is a metal plate with writings on it.

'Ethan.

Black Company, E Division, 1st Recon Battalion, Tango Squad.

Age: 5'

Ethan Black. I like it.

Of course, a little voice in the back of my brain tells me what I like doesn't really matter anymore.

Did it ever do?

Before I can question myself further, however, a bunch of angry looking mans in uniform push me and the others out of the room, giving a kick in the ribs of one kid that was too slow.

Once outside, I realize it was not a room but one of those buildings soldiers use in the movies… A barrack.

Next thing I realize is that the sun is not yet up.

There are many more buildings like that one all around and children are pouring out of each one.

I bump in something hard as a brick wall and have to blink twice for my eyes to focus on the face that's looking at me.

It's smiling.

It's a she.

She's got a full two heads more than I do.

I smile awkwardly.

"Hiya! What's your name?"

… Too friendly, but at least she's not punching my face for bumping into her.

"Ethan, apparently… And you?"

"Naomie. Black Company, E Division, 1st Recon Battalion, Tango Squad… That's what the thing over my bed said anyway… You know what's going on?"

I snicker.

"If I do, I don't remember."

She seems to think for a second… Doesn't look easy.

"Hmm… Maybe we could watch over each others, you look smart and I'm tough, perfect combo!"

I nod slowly.

I'm smaller and younger than anyone else here, so I guess that makes me weak, and only the strong survive…

"Goodie, now what?"

"We wait and see what's next, then, we improvise."

I shiver.

"And try to find a way to stay warm if they keep us out here for too long."

Heck, it's so cold my feet are sticking to the asphalt

"I want every company to form into ten rows with ten recruits in each! NOW!"

I can't see who's talking, but I still take place behind one of the other kids, next to Naomie, holding her hand to avoid getting separated as other kids take their place in the ranks before getting beaten.

There is a lot of shouting and crying, but we finally get into a decent square formation.

I still don't let go of Naomie's hand.

"Alright," the same voice announces, "We are going to run around the complex until the sun is up. Stragglers will be beaten, to death if needed. The Union has no patience for weakness! Move out!"

And with that, we start running, fast.

To the older kids, it's just a jog, but I almost have to sprint.

Before ten minutes have passed, I'm out of breath, my legs are on fire, my ribs are killing me, so are my lungs and I threw up twice.

Well, at least I know my last meal had carrots in it.

I trip for the hundredth time, but Noemie keeps me on my feet.

Everyone is out of breath and limping along as best they can, but not her, she just keeps running like she was some kind of robot. From then, all I focus on is her, the way she takes a breath, hold it, release it… It's hypnotizing.

Then, before I know it, the man orders us to stop and head back to our barracks for breakfast.

I learn, a few hours later as we are eating some weird goo, that she's a ballerina since she's three.

I ask how she remembers and she gets a weird look.

"I don't know… I… It just came to me, like that, I knew it…"

I focus on that blank spot of my brain, scanning it, prodding it.

Nothing.

I feel like crying, but only babies cry.

Only the weak show their pain.

We spend the rest of the day in a dark room, watching war and horror movies.

I ask a man in uniform how it's supposed to make us better soldiers and he growl something about correct mind set.


	2. Chapter 2

When I wake up, I'm no longer in the barrack, but on a stainless steel table with robots all around me.

Hey, you'd have freaked out too, damn things are plain creepy.

When I finally decide to get out of my hiding spot, under the table, a tall man wearing a strange brown coat helps me up. His face is hidden behind an Omni-Tek Desert trooper helmet.

When he speaks, it reminds me of the desert wind, harsh but warm.

"Don't worry, kid, they're not dangerous."

I look at the machines, still standing around, waiting.

"I know, it's just scary, waking up to that…"

The man laughs, but it comes out wrong. He's not very good at it.

"Yeah, I hear you, pal."

There is an awkward silence.

"So, I take it you don't know what you're doing here. Do you?"

I jump a bit when he finally talks.

"No, they said I was going to be a soldier."

"Well, not anymore, kiddo."

I should be afraid, but I'm not. If they wanted to kill me, they would have done it by now.

"You're on track to become a Shadow Marshal." He simply wait after that, observing my reaction.

Whatever a Shadow Marshal is, it sounds fucking awesome.

"What's that?" I ask, trying to hide the excitement in my voice.

The man makes me sit on the table and hands me a data-pad.

I read it.

'As a Shadow Marshall of the Union, you will be tasked with highly classified missions on and beyond the front line; you will both reinforce our troop's morale and shatter the enemy's by disturbing their chain of command, supply lines and communications.'

And then, a series of videos appear, always showing a man or woman, all dressed in black and wearing shades.

In the first one, the Shadow Marshal is sitting in a trench with a bunch of other soldiers, wearing strange red armors.

The woman in black sharpens her knife while talking to the assembled soldiers.

There is no sound, but everyone seems captivated by what she has to say.

Then, it shows a bunch of men wearing Omni-AF uniforms, talking around the tactical display of a battle they are winning.

Most of them are smiling.

They're still smiling when a dark figure comes out of the shadows, a knife in one hand and a pistol in the other.

It takes the Shadow Marshal exactly five seconds to kill everyone.

She then toy a bit with the tactical display, giving orders to Omni troops and sending false reports.

The next video shows a man with a rifle, lying perfectly still on a rocky ledge, aiming down the sights.

The Marshal fires and the camera follow the bullet trough a bunch of trees and, a few hundred meters later, the window of a building and the brain of a Vanguard officer.

I spend the next ten minutes watching statistics and projections.

Every actions sends an echo that will trigger reactions from everything and everyone, a good Shadow Marshall knows when to trigger a particular echo to nudge things his way.

Good Shadow Marshals can become legends; excellent ones are never herd of.

The man puts a hand on my shoulder once the data-pad is done.

"I'm tasked with supervising the implant job you are about to receive, it will make you smarter, stronger and faster than anyone outside your company, but I won't do it unless you convince me you deserve it."

Uhm… What the fuck?

"Well, if I'm here, I suppose you already think I deserve it…"

Silence and my reflection in his visor are my only answer.

I sigh and think about it.

"How exactly am I supposed to deserve it?"

He nod.

"I need to know I won't just be wasting resources on you, that you won't just get yourself killed stupidly."

"That's not part of my career plan…"

He laughs again.

" No, I bet it's not, but do you have the conviction to carry your mission even when you know it might be your last? To fight tooth and nails for your cause?"

I raise an eyebrow.

"No one told me what our cause was…"

He lifts a finger and I stop talking.

"I said yours, not the Union's, I'm no drone maker, if you fight for us, I want you to fight because you actually think it's right, if not, I want you to find a cause you think is and stick to it, no matter what, you understand?"

I don't, yet I nod.

"Good, then, I ask you; do you have what it takes to do what's right, no matter the cost?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then take that pill, it will make you sleep. When you wake up, you'll begin a new life."

Again.

I smile and take the pill.


	3. Chapter 3

I wake up, this time in my bed, in the barracks, with one of the men in uniform, instructors I suppose, yelling at us to get out of bed.

Surprisingly, I'm not tired; my muscles hurt and I'm thirsty, but I don't feel the need to sleep.

Looking around, I notice everything is exactly like it was when I got to bed last night.

Was that thing with the robots just a dream? Would make sense, but it all felt so real…

Someone pushes me against the wall.

"Did you not hear me? I said get the fuck out of here!"

One of the instructors.

My hand snap up, swapping his aside. Oh man, this was a bad idea… Too late to go back now, I guess.

"Don't touch me." I growl, trying to hide the fact I'm about to soil my pants.

His eye widen at my arrogance.

"I'll touch you if I want, you little piece of shit." And with that, he tries shove me back again, but he's slow; I'm not.

Before I know it, my right foot is flying upward toward his crotch and I'm yelling something in a language I don't know.

"Tao!"

Uh oh.

He yells in pain when it collides with his nuts, a yell that turns into a growl of rage when I break his nose.

"Mee-Sah!"

Stopstopstopstop!

Why can't I stop it!

Fear.

The answer is so obvious; I'm scared shitless, so a buried part of my brain wants to defend itself...

No going back now, I guess.

"You're dead, shithead!"The instructor yells, reaching for his stun stick.

It's gone.

Behind him, Naomie smiles but not in a friendly way.

Five minutes later, the whole company is in the infirmary, we received one heck of a beating from the security force.

The instructor Naomie and I fought is not here, which can be very good, or very, very bad.

Someone touches my shoulder and I jump in fright.

Its one of the other ki… Recruits, he's tall and slender and his face is blue.

Opifex.

"Hey man, you're the one that picked a fight with that army guy?"

His voice is emotionless, but something tells me I'm about to have my ass kicked.

"Yeah, it's me." I answer.

I'm surprised my voice didn't break from the fear.

"Dude, that was totally badass! What's your name?"

I blink twice.

Hey, he's not punching me!

"I'm Ethan, Tango squad, Black company and other random stuff."

He laugh.

"I'm Josip, Sigma squad, Black company."

Naomie, who was getting ready to defend me, again, smiles and introduce herself.

"Wait, I saw you during the fight; you're fast, man! Those guys didn't even touch you until they ganged up on you." She suddenly exclaims.

He shrug.

"They were slow and dumb… I heard you earned yourself a nickname during the fight, right?"

She grins wickedly.

"Fingerbreaker."

We all laugh at that.

"Hey, we could be friends, you know, for what it's worth." Josip propose, smiling.

I nod.

"Sure, Nao?"

"Yeah, friends."

Then, a familiar voice reaches us and we all freeze, and by all, I mean the whole company.

"Well, well, well, first day with your augmentations and you already cause trouble? I think I'll enjoy training you kiddos."

A man, wearing a brown coat and Omni desert helmet walks in the infirmary.

Well, it wasn't a dream.

I'm a Shadow Marshal.

That thought is like a bucket of icy water in my brain:

Everything is crystal clear now, I have a purpose, I will be a shadow, I'll shape governments, spark and end wars… And I'm going to love every second of it.

Of course, there is that little part of my brain, the one that had me fight the Instructor, who tells me it's not true, that they made me believe its what I want …

I ignore it and bury it deeply as the man introduces himself as Sergeant Major Michael Francz.


End file.
